Birds and other mobile features in the garden 2013 #1

claireplymouth z6b coastal MAJanuary 5, 2013

This thread is intended to give people a place to post photos and/or talk about birds, critters, wildlife, fish, whatever - topics you might not want to start a whole thread on, but are still garden-related. You can see the range of possible topics in the previous threads:

I'll start out this new year's post with birds that are not usually seen in the beginning of January, but were here this morning (besides, I haven't seen any turkeys for a while). After a few really cold days and nights, the daytime temperature is above freezing and is expected to stay warm for a while. The unimpressive snow we had is melting, soon to be replaced by ice.

The first surprise this morning was a flock of twenty, yes twenty, Red-winged Blackbirds. I'd been seeing one or two for a while, but certainly not twenty! They didn't stay for long - I don't know if they'll be back. The red-wings usually appear when spring is a little closer to being possible. I don't expect they'll be singing until the females show up, much later on.

And next came a robin; not really unexpected since they do hang around all winter here and feast on berries, but people have a hard time believing that the First Robin of Spring is really the Last Robin of Winter that finally found a worm.

The robins already stripped the available berries but water is also an attraction for them. I've started putting raisins by the birdbath to see if they'll keep coming.

Twenty? Brilliant! There must 4 more nearby. How perfect. Yes, it does seem a bit early. My Blackbird file shows the first date of appearance here last year was 2-23-2012.

" I've started putting raisins by the birdbath to see if they'll keep coming." Seriously? Is there a towel warmer by the bath? Little terry robes perhaps? No question that you are running the Ritz Carlton for birds. If my birds hear of this, I'll be out of business.

I've never seen so many red wing blackbirds all at the same time! I'm enjoying watching the eastern bluebirds eating my suet. There are two males and one female that show up, often several times a day & usually together. My neighbor up the street sees them too. I lured them in by setting a terra cotta birdbath bowl on the ground under one of my hanging suet feeders to catch the crumbs that fall. Now they're regular customers.

Jane: The first few years I paid attention, the blackbirds would arrive in a huge flock of red-wings, grackles, cowbirds and a few starlings, all at the same time. The last few years, though, the red-wings have showed up first, maybe a few weeks to a month ahead of the others (I'm too lazy to go check the PFW or eBird records, but the photo file backs this up). Not this early, though.

I don't know how much of this is climate change and how much is my evolving bird food pantry - I certainly feed more and better now - but an ex-resident once mentioned how the blackbirds would arrive en masse but only stay a few days before moving on, probably having exhausted the local food supply.

These are all males, maybe getting a jump start on establishing territory somewhere. I wonder when the females will come.

gardenweed: I've never seen ANY bluebirds; it's probably just too woodsy here for them. That's a great idea of setting a suet crumb catcher under the feeders. I've noticed the juncoes feeding under suet feeders here.

Claire, it seems that my summer birds are wintering at your place! Twenty red-winged blackbirds (+ or - the four) is something I never see until June or so when they visit our swampy area. I love their calls; they sound like electronic whirrs to me. They and the robin(s) appear to be living it up at Claire's luxury spa and fine dining establishment, and who could blame them!?

Not a feather on him, but it sure is mobile. Look what flew over my garden this morning. I've been ballooning, but can't imagine how chilly it was up there today. Very calm though, so it really was perfect. We don't see this often.

spedigrees: There could have four and twenty of your blackbirds here - they were still coming in when the count got to twenty but something scared the whole flock off before the last four got down. I haven't seen them yet today, although one red-wing was feeding with the blue jays.

Jane: How wonderful to see a balloon! I wonder also, though, how long a hot air balloon can stay flying when it's so cold out. You might end up with a collapsed balloon in your yard.

This chap landed ever so briefly this morning on the frozen bacon grease (which nobody favors over the suet cake). First time I've noticed a sandy colored breast on a Nuthatch - usually I see sparkling white. Claire, are the Red breasted Nuthatches you see more colorful than this fellow? What do you think: regular or red breasted?

It always surprises me to see a junco on the nyjer feeder along with the goldfinches. Hey, juncos are groundfeeders! I'm waiting for one to figure out that it can land on top of a suet cage and feed from there.

The junco seems to be very carefully moving its foot to the next grabbing position.

One of the goldfinches is probably a male in molt - the head and back are becoming winter drab but the tail and wings are still breeding season gorgeous.

Nice goldfinch photos Claire. I have tons of goldfinches on my thistle ball. I had never noticed how black and white their tails are until recently - now that I have binoculars. I think I've always focused on their vibrant yellow in the summer. Which you don't need binoculars to see!

I've had some juncos feeding off the suet droppings. This guy is keeping my stone bench clean!

Goldfinch yellow -- so the bright yellow on one male I'm seeing here is moulting last year's wardrobe? This is quite bright, but just on one bird. At first I thought it might be an indicator of a' too early' spring.

Then, there are those that make me think, 'Where's Waldo". I'm glad I don't blend in with my food. Sometimes wearing it is bad enough. Jane

The heated bird bath was gross, but before dumping the water for a good scrubbing, there was a sunflower seedling growing under the water. It was mobile because the water was in slight motion. Kinda neat in January, thanks to heated water.

pixie_lou: Binoculars really make a difference in appreciating what a bird looks like. I'm always torn between grabbing my binoculars and grabbing the camera - binoculars are faster to focus on a bird, but the camera keeps an image I can go back to if I'm not sure what the bird is.

I just expanded a section of that photo to look at the molting goldfinch closer. Not much yellow left on the head and back, but still some yellow in the wings and maybe the tail. He should keep the black and white but it will probably get dingy and worn over the winter.

Jane: How did you train the Song Sparrow to balance a sunflower seed on its bill? And didn't you train a squirrel a while back to balance a feather on its nose?

Heated bird baths do get gross; particularly when all the little birds want to take a bath on a nice warm day. Maybe one of them wanted to soften up the sunflower seed and forgot that it was in there. The crows here often put corn in one bird bath (at least I think it's the crows)l

No bright yellow goldfinches here at all; all are in varying shades of motley drab.

My new peanut/nugget feeder continues to delight me. I'm seeing Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches every day, along with titmice and wrens and chickadees and downies.

This morning a Northern Flicker showed up - the first time I've seen one at this feeder.

And I often see Hairy Woodpeckers (this pic from December). I've never seen hairies up close until now - they've always been way off across the yard where I couldn't judge the size and just had to agonize over bill length and feather patterns to be sure it wasn't a downy.

Here I can sit near the deck glass door and leisurely observe the sturdy fat woodpeckers. This one looks like she's been fattening up for winter for a long long time.

I'm still layering peanuts and peanut suet dough nuggets in the feeder. The juncos enjoy grazing for the suet grains under the feeder.

The turkeys visited in the snow again today (they are pretty much daily visitors to the corn field at this time of year), first heading for the sheltered corner where pines keep some of the snow off the ground.

and then they wandered down the field under the shelter of the pines along the edge until they got to where manure is stockpiled for next spring's planting, and spent time picking over that before heading across the field again. (I was playing around and decided to see if I could get a shot through binocs since we currently lack a telephoto lens.)

Babs - I do most of my reading on my iPhone and often skim the pictures, coming back later to read. I thought you had posted a picture of a gorgeous full moon and I was amazed to see all the craters. Then I read the text!

nhbabs - That is neat. I've tried it, but needed a tripod or a 3rd arm to hold everything steady. Good for you. There is quite a following for 'digibinning' and you can get a fixture to put on your binocs to hold a small camera. Much like digiscoping, but less expensive. I've looked through a Swarovski scope with a small pocket camera affixed to it and it was incredible distance and clarity. So the next time I run into an extra few thousand dollars I have no need for, I'll surely get one. (read never) Hope you show us another digibinned (sp?) picture - really neat.

Snow last night, not a whole lot (3 inches tops), but birds take seriously anything on the ground that covers their food. I usually get between five and ten Blue Jays at a time, but early this morning I counted twenty-two BJ's - most in the wisteria with the overflow on the ground.

Not the greatest photos in the early morning light but I loved seeing the jays looking like bright blue blossoms in the wisteria.

Well, I disagree. I think the BJs against the morning gold background is a very artistic picture and agree that they look like blossoms. I miss the BJs here. Looks like they all went to your house. Hope some return. Glad to see you're back in business, Claire.

This morning just before the sun came up (shivering) I took a look at the peanut/nugget feeder to see if any birds were up. Or a squirrel needing to be chased. The rope lights are on a timer and went off a few minutes later.

No birds on the feeder but the morning light on the bay was lovely and I could see eiders floating in the water (warmer than the air).

Finally back for a visit. I love seeing everyone's birds. We have red polls again this year but this photo is from two years ago, taken from our kitchen window. Unless the sun hits their heads just right, you don't see their red caps. For some reason, we don't see many colorful males bu this one is in the center of the photo. He has a rosey breast that most of the others lack.

Like NHbabs' turkeys, ours roost in the pines. The pines are on the west side of the field so they have a long walk to come to our bird feeders. This day they trooped down one by one. Sometimes only 4 will come to feed while the rest are stationed along the way, sometimes in small groups. Sometimes they run but they rarely fly. When they do, it's amazing to see. Their hearing is so sensitive that they can hear my camera click and that can scare them off.

I don't think we had any red polls last year. I would like to have a gaudy cardinal or two but we only get a very rare and very brief visit. Apparently our feeders aren't up to snuff. The black oil seed is in a feeder that should provide a good perch. Any advice from people who are popular with cardinals?

We aren't seeing many goldfinches although sometimes we miss visitors that come when we aren't looking out the window.

Cardinals here hate to perch on tube feeders, although they'll sometimes use the plastic perches that stick onto the round perches. They like the hopper feeder with the flat platform. Granted, I put lots of seed on the ground so the cardinals aren't desperate.

One thing they might be important - I see cardinals mostly very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon, when they feed with the native sparrows. Could you just be missing them?

This may not look like much of an event, but there are still 9 Mourning Doves in the same position that they took more than 2 hours ago. This is a very tight community. I can see them from my window as I write this and for them it may be just a port in the storm, but for me, their position in that heritage birch once again solidifies my reasons for gardening and planting more trees: It's my cathedral and these doves are the gifts that decorate my effort. They are special.

Wonderful photos of the Cooper's hawk! We lost a bird to a hawk a few weeks ago. By the time my husband noticed the hawk on the walkway to the kitchen door, there was nothing but a pile of feathers and a few bites left. I'm not sure what we lost but I was afraid for awhile that it was one of the woodpeckers.

I have seen a crow take a live mouse or similar during winter. I knew they scavenged but didn't think they would take something alive and, literally, kicking.

Jane, the doves are lovely. Another great photo. I agree, it is good to plant trees and shrubs. The maples that now holds some of our feeders is across the driveway from our house. My husband transplanted the sapling there back in the early 70s when we lived here briefly. The turkey parade photo shows a young crab I planted. I have another small berry bearing crab in another part of the yard. We have to move the viburnum, I think the squirrels got all the berries this year but last year I saw a family of bluebirds feasting on the spreading cotoneaster berries next to it.

Claire, I think we need to add another type of feeder. The one I thought the cardinals would like is shown in the photo. The perches might not be roomy enough.

defrost49: Cardinals can use perches if they really want to, but most of the time here they just don't bother. This female did in 2011, but I think she was a particularly adventurous bird. I recall a young cardinal exploring various feeders. She certainly doesn't look comfortable and it's hard to see how she can get her head in the port.

Apparently woodpecker hierarchy doesn't extend to House Sparrows - or maybe there's an obligatory distance that allows coexistence. This Northern Flicker this morning was eating suet while completely ignoring the sparrows on the other side of the feeder.

Suet is messy to eat, hard to keep your bill clean.

I enjoy seeing birds stropping their bills against twigs to clean them off.

Ah, the Plymouth turkeys are posing again. This may be the first time this thread has been without the resort turkeys for a month. Glad they're back. What a life they have.

No turkeys here, but the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker did let his belly show. Photo directly out of camera - no touching, so the yellow you see is as pale as it is. Very much like the Red-bellied Woodpecker, some have just a smidgen of red.
Jane

Defrost, I just love your photo of the march of the turkeys! That must be a sight to see from your window!

And Claire, it's almost hard to think of your turkeys as wild birds; they look so at home on your lawn and lawn furniture.

The photos of the Cooper's hawk are great. You actually could feed him fresh fish fillets from the supermarket, although your bird food expenditures would rise considerably. Bald eagles and owls will swoop down and feast on fresh, but dead fish, so I would assume hawks would do the same. I tossed freshly caught and gutted fish to a bald eagle over in NY state once and the same with a nesting owl just after dark here in Vermont. I spoke with a fish and game employee about the eagle and she wasn't a bit surprised. She said "Eagles are opportunists." So apparently dinner for a bird of prey need not be living, although they are great hunters, and it often is.

I love that sapsucker, Jane "Doesn't everybody eat hanging upside-down?" I've still never seen one here. The Red-belly belly is really bright, usually I see a 'Pale-belly with a touch of very faint pink'.

spedigrees: I think I'll pass on buying "fresh fish fillets from the supermarket" for the hawks. I'd probably just end up feeding the neighborhood cats while the hawks still terrorized the yard birds. And my bird food budget would explode!

Beyond the great photo content and composition, one aspect of this thread I have enjoyed has been the overall subtlety of the colors, mostly browns whites and greys with brief punctuations of color from feathers, beaks, bright yellow corn, buds or the manmade colors of feeders. Contrasts of light levels and color contribute also. This is so different from the more vivid colors of breeding plumage birds and flowers that show up during the warm weather.

So true, nhbabs. I'm looking out the window at the beige and dark green and light gray of my garden, with a few splotches of white and a red cardinal, and I'm having trouble remembering what it looked like in summer. The light is muted also; overcast with some veiled sunbeams coming and going. I could dig out some summer photos, but I'd rather not - this scene has its own beauty and will pass soon enough.

The looming blizzard will inject some unwelcome energy and temporarily veil the landscape, but that should pass too.

This morning I was watching the shocking blue Blue Jays eat and I realized that there was a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds with them.

One jay looked disapprovingly at the redwings.

But they stayed anyway.

I'm pretty sure this is a female, not a first-year juvenile male.

I really wish they'd waited until after the weekend to settle in - the snow is going to be a shock to the new migrants.

I, too, love these beautiful winter shots with the muted colors because now the all birds become the 'foliage' in the garden. Claire, the Cooper's Hawk and the Blue Jays are magnificent! Jane, after seeing the wonderful view you have outside your office window, I can appreciate even more your photographic skills. That shot of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is truly special. I haven't been to this thread in a while---- there are many recent photos I'm saving for desktops.

The photos I'm including were taken by my DH who is better with my new camera than I. Two days ago I was looking out the bedroom window and spotted something? --- maybe a big log caught in the weeds? Nope! It was a Heron of some kind --- Great Blue? Can't tell from my bird identification book. I think it's time to buy a better one. Any suggestions?

My suggestions for bird guides: In paperback, I like 'The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America' which Claire recommended to me a few years ago. I like Sibley's very much because it shows drawings of birds with their changing plumage at various stages of development. That one feature of Sibley's Guide has helped me often. (but I still confuse little brown birds)

When out in the field looking for eagles, ospreys and everything else the Connecticut River offers, I bring my iPod Touch because it fits in a shirt pocket and I loaded it with two apps from the iTunes Store - 'iBird North' and 'The Ultimate Audubon New England Field Guide'. If you wanted one app for your iPhone for the sake of portability, I suggest the Audubon NE Guide because it offers birds, mammals, fish, plants,butterflies, spiders & insects, wildflowers, trees, seashells, and the natural history of New England. Plus, it has multiple voices of most birds and animals,their ranges, etc. It is the most complete guide I've seen, and the pictures and sounds are crystal clear throughout each category. The iTunes App Store lists it as"Audubon Nature New England", if you're interested.